Two former Parramatta Eels players are accused of harbouring semi-automatic weapons and possessing more than half-a-million dollars in cash after dramatic arrests in Sydney's Centennial Park yesterday.

Syrian army advances west of Palmyra

The Syrian army has reopened a key oil supply route near Islamic State-controlled Palmyra, as the jihadist group mines the city's ancient UNESCO-listed ruins.

However, the army's advance toward the central city from the west, reported by a pro-government newspaper and a monitoring group, and stepped up air strikes, do not appear to indicate an imminent offensive to retake it.

IS overran Palmyra on May 21, sparking fears that the radical Sunni Muslim group might repeat the sort of vandalism it has carried out in Iraq and destroy one of Syria's most famous archaeological sites.

"The infantry has made tangible progress in the area of Biyarat al-Gharbiyeh," west of Palmyra, which had previously been in IS hands, said Al-Watan newspaper.

And the army had "intensified" its operations against IS in Palmyra and the surrounding area, the newspaper added.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been monitoring the conflict, said the army was now 10 kilometres away from Palmyra.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the capture of the area "allows the regime to secure a transport route for oil from the Jazal field... to other Syrian cities under its control."